User Reviews

I don't normally comment on short films. (Though I may do it more often.) I try to make comments that matter, and honestly, it's too difficult to find a way to see short films even if you hear about them. But maybe enough comments will help to change that.

I just got back from the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, and I have a lot of film on which to comment, but I had to make one of them this gem of a short film, Hit Me. Here's why ...

First, it's a full film! It's only 25 minutes long or so, but it's a full interesting story with suspense and intrigue. It's really like a miniature feature.

There are mainly two characters, and it could have been a boring talking-heads-film like you see in many shorts with two characters and a lot of dialogue, but it's not. The main character hires a hit-man to kill himself, and then finds himself trapped in a bathroom with the hit-man on the other side of the door. But the man wants to live now. Compelling, right? It really is.

What makes it work is that the writing is not what you often times see in these festival films. It's neither amateurish and cliché, nor pseudo-intellectual and trite. It's smart and real, and the performances are very good. The actors are both professionals and they both do a great job delivering this story and their emotions.

I saw this film twice. I saw it on Friday with a group of shorts and then went to see it again with another group of shorts two days later. The main reason I saw it again is because there is this little piece of wisdom at the end that I wanted to hear again. I jotted it down and looked it up online just to see if it was taking from somewhere else. It's not. Like the rest of the film, it's original. This is just really good and well thought out writing. I know that the writer and the director said they are trying to raise money to do the feature, or a similar feature. I hope they get it. They both did a good job. The director got great performances from the cast and really made this film flow as good as a full budget feature.

This is one of the best shorts I've seen at a festival in a long time.

I thought this was a great short film. The acting was very good, the writing and directing impeccable. Lot's of food for thought. You could tell the writer was thinking and had something to say. What he had to say was well executed by the director who keep the pacing and the tension on just the right level. I really appreciate that you couldn't guess what was going to happen in the middle of the film. It kept you guessing and therefore interested until the end.

Omari Morocco was splendid. He was cool and professional. His character was completely believable. Again, I really appreciated the fact that he was a thinking person. Not the usual stereotype. He also looked as good as his acting. Christian Svensson was also very good. Again, he was believable as the not so suave gambler. The juxtaposition between the suave hit man and the less than perfect gambler was brilliant.

The music score and setting was right on. Again the added to the theme and mood of the piece.

Finally, it is rare to see a short film in which so much come together in such a brief presentation. The filmmaker(s) should be applauded. I am sure they are very proud of this piece. I for one am looking forward to seeing more.

Only problem was the roll of toilet paper. Next time get a better continuity person. Other than that, it's perfect.